Shropshire Star

Jailed: Telford man, 25, sexually assaulted woman after being offered sofa for the night

A Telford man who was offered a sofa to sleep on for the night went upstairs and sexually assaulted his host as she slept.

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Daniel Watson, 25, was today beginning the first week of a nine-month prison sentence for the assault, which has left his victim with severe psychological damage.

Watson, of Princess Avenue, Wellington, had been drinking in Oakengates on August 1 and had gone back to the victim's house with another woman, Shrewsbury Crown Court was told.

Mr Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, told the court that the three had reached the victim's home at 5am.

She told Watson and the other woman that they could stay the night and offered them the sofa on the ground floor.

The victim then went upstairs to bed and 40 minutes later CCTV inside the house showed Watson emerge from the lounge, naked.

Mr Butterworth said Watson was seen walking around downstairs for a time on the footage.

He went out of the camera's sight and then reappeared, still naked, holding his clothes and wearing a condom.

The CCTV recorded him going upstairs for nine minutes, Mr Butterworth told the court.

Watson had previously admitted one charge of sexual assault at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Sentencing Watson, Judge Peter Barrie said: "The lady has had to deal with the grave harm you caused that night in August.

"You have explained that you had so much to drink you did not know what was going on, which has been put forward as an excuse.

"The truth is it is your responsibility what you drink and if you are drinking to the point where you cannot control yourself, the consequences are your own fault."

The court heard how the victim no longer felt safe in her own house.

She had tried to move and no longer felt comfortable in relationships.

Judge Barrie said: "You went upstairs and assaulted her while she was asleep, which resulted in serious harm.

"This harm is so serious it cannot be dealt with a sentence in the community."

Watson was given nine months for the attack and told he would serve half his sentence behind bars.

Mr Dean Easthope, for Watson, said he had accepted responsibility for the assault but still could not recall what had happened.

He told the court: "He is a hard-working man who has just taken on a job working 36 hours over the weekend."

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